"I quickly got up and he grabbed my hand, holding it with a bone-crunching tight grip.

"Thank God you're here" I said as we began to run. "The headmaster tried strapping me down to some chair in the middle of a locked room."

"That man wasn't your headmaster."

"Who was he then?"

"A Vixtel."

"A what?" I sputtered.

"A Vixtel" he repeated more slowly.

"What the hell is a Vixtel?"

"No time to explain now. I'll tell you anything and everything you want to know as soon as we get into the TARDIS" he promised.

"Your spaceship?" I clarified.

"And Time Machine" he added. "The most important part."

"Ok. So, where exactly is this…TARDIS?" By this point I was breathing heavily and my words were coming out all staggered.

"You'll see. Don't want to chance any eavesdroppers finding out where she is and getting there before us. Not that they'd be able to get in. The forces of Ghengas Khan couldn't even break through her doors."

"Right. So, um…just wondering…how is it…that you're not…out of breath?"

"You're out of breath already? But you've got two hearts and a…wait! Of course! You don't know how to switch over to your respiratory bypass system. It's the same reason your healing properties aren't working. You don't know how to activate them. Of course! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have realized that. Anyway, once we get to the TARDIS and I fly her into the Time Vortex, you and I have a lot of things to go over. Thankfully, we'll have all the time in the Universe." The Doctor and I kept running for what seemed like ages. Just when I thought I couldn't run any further, I spotted a beautiful blue box in the distance.

"That your TARDIS?"

"Yep!"

"She's beautiful."

"Oh. She is definitely going to like you." A few seconds later we arrived at her doors. The Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors flew open. I stood there, mouth and eyes wide open.

"Wow! That is pretty awesome."
"If you like that, just wait until you see the inside." I cautiously stepped inside not knowing what to expect. When I walked in, I did a double-take before looking back at the Doctor. "Go on. Say it. I've heard them all."

"It's different" I blurted out.

"Ok, so maybe I haven't heard them all before" The Doctor said, most likely to himself rather than to me. "Hmm…different. Different how, exactly?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" The Doctor's head snapped up.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realize I spoke that last bit aloud."

"So, do you want me to?"

"If you want. It's not important. No, wait! Scratch that. Everything's important. It's not vital. How's that? Good, I think. Anyway, let's fly this Old Girl out of here before anyone finds her. Then you and I are having a lengthy chat." I nodded in acknowledgement. "Perfect! Allonsy!" He ran over to the control panel acting like a little kid on Christmas morning and started pushing random buttons and pulling random levers. Suddenly, the TARDIS shook and I lost my balance, crashing into the ground. "Sorry, should have given you a bit of a warning" the Doctor shouted over the buzzing sound of the TARDIS's engines.

"Yeah, would've helped" I muttered. After a minute or so, she stopped moving and went quiet.

"We in the Time Vortex?"

"Yep, sure are!"

"So I guess it's time for that talk, huh?" The Doctor nodded.

"Have a seat, Violet."